Finger Food Ideas for Large (100) People Party HELP!!!

I make these for every party and reception and they are always the thing everyone wants the recipe for.

Buy frozen meatballs and cook them in the oven per package instructions. Then put them in a large crockpot.

In a skillet, melt a large jar of grape jelly. Then add an equal amount of chili sauce (I buy Heintz . . . it's in a bottle and looks like ketchup). Then I tweak it by adding more of one or the other until I get the taste I want.

Pour over the meatballs and keep on warm for the event.

Easy, easy . . . good, good!

I also always do the pinwheels and I see that you have quite a few recommendations for them.

And I usually make a spinach-artichoke dip and serve with chips and toasted slices of baguette and I usually have a fruit and cheese tray. If I have time I make cherry tomatoes stuffed with chicken salad and pepperoncinis stuffed with tuna salad.

And, as has been suggested, you usually can't go wrong with deviled eggs.

I also sometimes make the cocktail weiners in the crock pot.

Put 3 lbs of weiners in the pot. Add one cup brown sugar, one cup chili sauce and one cup bourbon. Cook for at least 3 hours. Mmmmmm, good!

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Hi K.,

I just glanced at the other posts, but here are my ideas:

Mix 1 block of cream chesse with 1 can of Rotel
Then mix. Serve with chips or crackers
This is the easiest receipe and very cheap, plus people love it.
Spinach dip w/ chips
Little smokies
cheese and crackers
veggie tray
cut up fruit w/ dip
Hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

I hope this helps. I work for a grocery store in a service deli and I am always making party trays. I like the tortilla pinwheels, and the little finger sandwhiches too.
Fresh fruit and veggies with ranch dip in a hollowed out round bread bowl. Chips and salsa. Cookies, if you make a recipe from a bag of chocolate chips it usually yeilds 4-5 dozen. Crescent roll pigs in a blanket...alls you need is a can of crescent roll dough and cocktail weenies and roll and bake and there you go! I used to work at a nursing home and for celebrations there they used to mix sprite or diet sprite with kool-aid, but you could use juice or ginger ail. Also you can make what is called mock champaign which is surbert and any clear soada like sprite 7 up or ginger ail. The Only 99 Cents store has cheap platters and serving ware as well as some nifty finds at party city. Oh a box of cake mix yeilds 24 cup cakes. Cheese is always a hit, cheese cubes or slices with crackers. Boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce, the meat counter in most grocers can steam for you for free or they already have some cooked. Frozen meat balls, cocktail sausages or just sliced meats. Pickles and olives, celery with cream cheese. Stuffed jalapenos with cream cheese! Stuffed cherry tomatoes with the same! Dont forget to garnish! Kale is bright green and curly and dosnt wilt like lettuce or parsley. I hope all of this will help you out!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi K.,
These take a little time, but they're different and are always a huge hit at our parties. Wrap little smokies with a piece of bacon (i usually cut them into thirds) secure with a toothpick, put in a cake pan close together, cover the top with brown sugar, bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I usually drain the grease half way through baking.

Good luck with your party!

M.

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I got this recipe from my mom, made these meatballs for a party a couple of weeks ago and they were gone soooo fast! Very easy!

frozen meatballs (I used 2 of the larger bags)
1 jar orange marmalade
1 jar barbecue sauce (choose whatever variety you want, depending on your taste)
1 tsp - 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper (more or less to taste)

Put everything in the crock pot at least 4-5 hours. Yum!

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Package of breadsticks
Bacon
Parmesan Cheese

Wrap raw strips of bacon around breadsticks. Place on microwave plate and microvwave until bacon is cooked. Remove and roll in parmesan cheese. Store in cup or jar standing up.

Easy to make.....tasty treats.....always a great hit.

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puff pastry
rolled up tortillas with filling
mini tacos

mini muffins

seafood dip with vegetables

carmel dip with fruit

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This is a great dessert. Buy the filo dough mini cups (freezer section), Bake them to the directions. The filling is cream cheese mixed with condensed milk (the thick creamy stuff), after it is mixed add mini chocolate morsals. put filling in baked cups and you have a tasty dessert. Good luck.

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Sams is great. They have all of these below.

cheese cubes / squares -variety
olives
crackers - variety
mini eggrolls
pretzels

Nancy's appetizers
little quiches
Seafood Crab Cakes
Mushroom Turnovers
Spinach Cheese Stars
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=2463

nuts
bakliva (sweet dessert pastry)
rugalah
Spanakopita

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My all time favorite on the buffet line- chicken nuggets from Chick Filet- no work only flavor!

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A friend of mine gave me this easy recipe and they're a hit everywhere I take them.

dried apricots or mangos (I get mine from Sams)
jar of jalapenos
package of bacon
toothpicks

put the fruit and 1 jap together wrap a half a piece of bacon around them, secure with a toothpick and put them on a flat sheet into a 375 oven until the bacon is cooked

They're always the first app to go. Good Luck

1 mom found this helpful

Hummus & Pita chips or pita slices
Potstickers
Assortment of Olives
Block of cream cheese w/ crackers-- can cover with
Raspberry Chipotle sauce - yum
Salsa
Jalepeno Jelly
or spread on crackers and top with sweet jalepenos
Cream cheese stuffed jalepenos
mini frozen quiches
Antipasti (cheese, meat, peppercinis (sp?) etc)
Baguette slices with bruschetta (tomatoes, fresh basil, onion, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic etc)

1 mom found this helpful

You could do chicken nuggets for Chick Fil A or you can do it yourself and go to Sams or buy larger quantities of Chicken Nuggets and get some sauce to go with it. You could do a fruit tray, you can buy them at the grocery store or you could do it yourself with many of varities of fruit and cut them into bite size bits. You could get fruit dip to go with that. You could do cheese and cracker tray, you could buy this or make it yourself. You could make a dip and buy tortilla chips or crackers to go with that.

Another idea is chicken strips with sauce or you could do a meat tray with crackers. Hope this helps!

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I agree aout the tortilla roll ups! I put them in flavored tortillas with ham and a cherry or ham and a water chestnut, looks fancy but is cheap.

Also I wrap bacon arount a water chestnut and put them in the oven to cook the bacon. 1lb of bacon and a couple cans of chestnuts goes a looong way! Stick in a toothpick and your done!

How about frozen sweedish meatballs in a crock pot w dipping sauce or little smokies in bbq sauce?

Hummus dip with pita bread makes alot cheap. A can or 2 of garbonzo beans ( chick peas) in the food processor w olive oil, garlic and some basil (or whatever flavor you want)then cut pitas in triangles and toast.

If you acn splurge on fruit....cut up and serve with a dip of cream chees mixed w powdered sugar and vanilla ( or other flavor) grapes, pineapple, berries are good.

hee hee.... we do alot of "dip" gatherings w my husbands large family!

1 mom found this helpful

costco and Sam's club are great places to pick up finger foods for parties. Also making black bean pinwheels with tortillas, shredded cheese, black beans (chopped in processor) and cream cheese. Mix these together and spread on tortillas, roll up and cut crosswise into spirals. These may be more budget friendly, but more time consuming. good luck

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I too am on a buget. One of my favorite site to go to when I'm stuck is www.puffpastry.com
I love their ideas!
You should check it out.

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Sausage Nuggets

2 cans Crescent Rolls
1 block cream cheese
1 lb sausage, cooked (I’ve used regular, spicy, and maple, and they’re all really good.)
1 egg white, slightly whipped
Poppy seeds

Drain and rinse your sausage after cooking. On the stove, melt block of cream cheese to creamy consistency. Mix in sausage and set aside. You can do this next part one of two ways:

Roll out the crescent roll dough in two strips and pinch together seams. Roll out so you’ll have a bit more dough to work with. Spread half the sausage mixture on both strips. Bring together sides and pinch dough closed (you’ll have a log then). Carefully it over, pinch the end seams together. Brush the tops with the egg white and sprinkle on poppy seeds.
Take each triangle of crescent dough and roll out a bit (maybe a 1/3 bigger). Put a dollop of sausage mixture in each triangle. Pull edges up together and pinch closed. Turn over, brush with egg white and sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden and dough is cooked.

If you are making for a party, you can bake without the egg wash and seeds just until done. Freeze the log. Thaw the day of the party. Put on baking sheet, brush with wash, sprinkle with poppy seeds, and bake again for a beautiful golden finish and warmth.

You’ll get rave reviews.

Another quick, easy, and pretty thing you can do is to make pinwheels. Get thin-sliced deli meat (any kind you like). Take a tortilla and spread it with cream cheese (it's even better if you add some herbs or buy it with herbs already). Lay the slices of meat over the cream cheese. Roll it up and cut into slices that look like pinwheels. Secure each roll with a pretty toothpick.

Have fun.

Also:
Chex Mix -- any flavor
Puppy Chow -- chocolate-covered Crispix
Caramel or sugar-crisp popcorn
Mixed nuts
Candy -- Millionaires, etc.
No-bake cookies

A favorite of mine is pimento cheese in celery sections. Cut the celery any length. I like 3-inch sections.
I make my own pimento cheese out of Velveeta, mayo, lg. jar of chopped pimento if you use the 2lb size of cheese, and a little garlic powder to taste. It's easy and goes a long way.

tortilla roll ups are good...tortillas, spread with cream cheese...add scallions or bacon

buy a big bag of meatballs at sams, put them in a crock pot and add whatever sauce you want...bbq, chinese, etc.

Good luck and have lots of fun :o)

This doesn't sound like it would work, but you can make mini muffins very quickly. Mix one box of spice cake mix and one can of canned pumpkin together. Spoon into mini muffin pans and bake for around 12-15 minutes. I like to add raisins and nuts. Quick, easy, and a great finger food!

While searching for soup recipes, I came across an interesting idea, serving soup for an apetizer in a small cup (maybe dixie size). The article was in the NY Times. Here's the link to the recipe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/dining/091arex.html

I loved the soup, I added a bit of Mrs. Dash extra spicy & because I didn't have it on hand, I didn't put in the lemon.

I also love lightly toasted pita with hummus. You can buy large whole wheat pitas, cut up into triangles and toast in 350 degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Spoon hummus on to each, sprinkle with a little paprika for garnish & serve on a tray.
You can buy a bunch of dried garbanzo beans fairly cheap by the pound (under $2.00) and can make a fairly big batch of hummus for little money. You can also get canned, for convenience. There's lots of recipes online for hummus, Recipezaar is a great site for reviewed recipes.

Drop by Central Market (Coit & George Bush Turnpike) or Whole Foods, they usually have great ideas for fingerfoods

My last piece of advice, enlist the help of a good friend. She'll help keep you calm and focused.

K.

Hi K.

What about pinwheels? Or a spinach dip? Both are easy and you can make tons for pretty cheap!! Queso is always good you can always spice it up and make lots! Have you looked on recipe websites for finget foods? I am not sure what your budget looks like or what type of food you are wanting. There is always chicken salad w/ crackers? Just a few ideas to maybe get you started! Good luck!

There is always SAMS or COSTCO...fast and easy, and not too expensive.

BLT dip:

1 small container sour cream
1/2 small jar mayo
1 tomato diced
1/2 bottle bacon bits
1 bag plain bagels

Combine sour cream, mayo, tomatoes & bacon bits. You can always add more of the tomatoes or bacon bits for flavor. Cut the bagels up into about 1 inch finger size pieces for dipping.

It's really good & cheap.

You could do little smokie sausages in a crockpot with bbq sauce on them. They sell generic brands that could save a little money. Very easy!

Salsa and chips, fruit platters, meat and cheese trays with crackers...

cocktail tomato with inside scooped out and replaced with tuna
are really easy and they go a long way.

Two easy ones I like:

1. Put out a block of cream cheese, dump a jar of cocktail sauce over it and top with little cocktail shrimp (you can add chopped green onions too). Great with wheat thins.

2. Take salami slices, spread with cream cheese, add a sliver of pepperoncini and roll - the cream cheese holds it together.

You can make deviled eggs. They're inexpensive,elegant and way easy to make. Chicken wings are also pretty cheap. Go to like Sams and get the big bag. Pop them in the oven. When they're ready take out and toss them in different sauces. Lemon Pepper spice is fairly inexpensive this one you have to put the spice on before you bake.BBQ is about 99 a bottle and you can coat alot of wings. Louisiana hot sauce is also inexpensive. Try black bean dip with those different colored chips. Sams also has these different finger food frozen snacks you can buy and pop in the oven. Good luck!

A giant bowl of fresh strawberries is a beautiful finger food. You can put a little bowl of Romanoff Sauce next to it. A simple version of the sauce is to just mix sour cream with lots of brown sugar. Some add cinnamon or nutmeg.

I also recently put a giant quantity of M&M's in pretty bowls all around my house and most of them disappeared.

You can also get a lot of mileage out of a well displayed cheese tray. Get several different types of cheese and put them on a large tray surrounded by grapes and strawberries. You can do two or three around the house and just have some backup in the fridge.

Do yourself a favor and don't do too much that requires you to be tending the oven when you want to be talking to your guests. All of these things can be pulled out of the fridge 30 minutes before people show up.

Good Luck!!

Pinwheels are easy & they can me made ahead of time. There are many ways to make them. ANd everyone loves them! Just google pinwheels.

Queso chips/hot sauce chips
meatballs in BBQ sauce in a crock pot with tooth picks
mini-hotdogs in BBQ sauce
veggie tray
fruit tray

Looks like you have gotten lots of good suggestions. I just wanted to ad one of my favorite recipes that is quick easy and very popular. Add one cup of mayonaise, one cup of parmesian cheese and 1 can of artichoke hearts. Heat in microwave and serve with crackers. You can increase the recipe to feed more people.

Bisquick, cheese and sausage balls. The recipe is on the Bisquick box. They are very good and can be made ahead and reheated.